Asbestos, a Hidden Killer! Asbestos Death

According to the Environmental Working Group Action Fund, 10,000 people a year die from asbestos-caused diseases in the United States, including one out of every 125 American men who die over the age of 50. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has no general ban on the use of asbestos.In the late 19th century and early 20th century,asbestoswas considered an ideal material for use in the construction industry. It was known to be an excellent fire retardant, to have high electrical resistance, and was inexpensive and easy to use.The problem with asbestos arises when the fibers become airborne and are inhaled. Because of the size of the fibers, the lungs cannot expel them.They are also sharp and penetrate tissues.Health problems attributed to asbestos include

1. Asbestosis

- A lung disease first found in textile workers, asbestosis is a scarring of the lung tissue from an acid produced by the body's attempt to dissolve the fibers. The scarring may eventually become so severe that the lungs can no longer function. The latency period (meaning the time it takes for the disease to develop) is often 10–20 years.

2. Mesothelioma

- A cancer of the mesothelial lining of the lungs and the chest cavity, the peritoneum (abdominal cavity) or the pericardium (a sac surrounding the heart). Unlike lung cancer, mesothelioma has no association with smoking. The only established causal factor is exposure to asbestos or similar fibers. The latency period for mesothelioma may be 20–50 years. The prognosis for mesothelioma is grim, with most patients dying within 12 months of diagnosis.

3. Cancer

- Cancer of the lung, gastrointestinal tract, kidney and larynx have been linked to asbestos. The latency period for cancer is often 15–30 years.

Diffuse pleural thickening

Considerable international controversy exists regarding the perceived rights and wrongs associated with litigation on compensation claims related to asbestos exposure and alleged subsequent medical consequences. Some measure of the vast range of views expressed in legal and political circles can perhaps be exemplified by the two quotes below, the first from Prof. Lester Brickman, an American legal ethicist writing in the Pepperdine Law Review, and second, Michael Wills, a British Member of Parliament, speaking in the House of Commons on July 13. 2006:

"A review of the scholarly literature indicates a substantial degree of indifference to the causes of this civil justice system failure. Many of the published articles on asbestos litigation focus on transactional costs and ways in which the flow of money from defendants to plaintiffs and their lawyers can be expeditiously and efficiently prioritized and routed. The failure to acknowledge, let alone analyze, the overriding reality of specious claiming and meritless claims demonstrates a disconnect between the scholarship and the reality of thelitigation that is nearly as wide as the disconnect between rates of disease claiming and actual disease manifestation.

Many of those who I see in my surgeries have worked in a number of workplaces and they could have been exposed to asbestos in each of them, but medical science is such that no one can identify which of them it is. As a result, there has been a long and complex history of legal discussion on how to apportionliability. The lawyers and the judiciary have wrestled, rightly and valiantly, with complex and difficult law, but it has created despair for the families whom we represent. Many of myconstituents’ families have been riven by the consequences of litigation in trying to get some compensation for a disease that has been contracted through no fault of theirs. That is cruel and unacceptable."

The first documented death related to asbestos was in 1906. In the early 1900s researchers began to notice a large number of early deaths and lung problems in asbestos mining towns. The first diagnosis of asbestosis was made in the UK in 1924. By the 1930s, the UK regulated ventilation and made asbestosis an excusable work related disease, followed by the U.S about ten years later. The term mesothelioma was first used in medical literature in 1931; its association with asbestos was first noted sometime in the 1940s.

Approximately 100,000 people in the United States have died, or will die, from asbestos exposure related to ship building. In the Hampton Roadsarea, a shipbuilding center, mesothelioma occurrence is seven times the national rate. Thousands of tons of asbestos were used in World War IIships to wrap the pipes, line the boilers, and cover engine and turbine parts. There were approximately 4.3 million shipyard workers in the United States during WWII; for every thousand workers about fourteen died of mesothelioma and an unknown number died from asbestosis.

The United States government and asbestos industry have been criticized for not acting quickly enough to inform the public of dangers, and to reduce public exposure. In the late 1970s court documents proved that asbestos industry officials knew of asbestos dangers since the 1930s and had concealed them from the public.A similar situation had arisen in the 1920s with the careless handling ofradiumand the ensuing scandal of theRadium Girls.

In Australia, asbestos was widely used in construction and other industries between 1945 and 1980. From the 1970s there was increasing concern about the dangers of asbestos and its use was phased out. Mining ceased in 1983. The use of asbestos was phased out in 1989 and banned entirely in Dec 2003. The dangers of asbestos are now well known in Australia and there is help and support for sufferers from asbestosis or mesothelioma.

Amosite and crocidolite are the most hazardous of the asbestos minerals because of their long persistence in the lungs of exposed people. Tremolite often contaminates chrysotile asbestos, thus creating an additional hazard. Chrysotile asbestos, like all other forms of asbestos, has produced tumors in animals. Mesotheliomas have been observed in people who were occupationally exposed to chrysotile, family members of the occupationally exposed, and residents who lived close to asbestos factories and mines.According to the NCI, "A history of asbestos exposure at work is reported in about 70 percent to 80 percent of all cases. However, mesothelioma has been reported in some individuals without any known exposure to asbestos." The most common diseases associated with chronic exposure to asbestos include: asbestosis and pleural abnormalities (mesothelioma, lung cancer). Asbestosis has been reported primarily in asbestos workers, and appears to require long-term exposure, high concentration for the development of the clinical disease.

There is also a long latency period (incubation period of an infectious disease, before symptoms appear) of about 12 to 20 years. Studies have shown an increased risk of lung cancer among smokers who are exposed to asbestos compared to nonsmokers.

Asbestos exposure becomes a health concern when high concentrations of asbestos fibers are inhaled over a long time period. People who become ill from inhaling asbestos are often those who are exposed on a day-to-day basis in a job where they worked directly with the material. As a person's exposure to fibers increases, because of being exposed to higher concentrations of fibers and/or by being exposed for a longer time, then that person's risk of disease also increases. Disease is very unlikely to result from a single, high-level exposure, or from a short period of exposure to lower levels.

Mechanisms which might be triggering cancer development

Stanton and Layard hypothesized in 1977–78 that toxicity of fibrous materials is not initiated by chemical effects, that is any trigger-effects of asbestos must presumably be physical, such as (A) mechanical damage or (B) unwanted signal channels (a plausible property for slender transparent fibres) which might disrupt normal cell activity—especially mitosis.(A) Mechanical Damage. There is experimental evidence that very slim fibers (<60 nm, <0.06 μm in breadth) do tangle destructively with chromosomes (being of comparable size). Clearly that is likely to cause the sort of mitosis disruption expected in cancer.(B) Unwanted Signal channels. This has recently been explored theoretically, but not yet experimentally. The theory argues that this effect would only be feasible for asbestos fibers >100 nm in breadth (>150 nm in the case of chrysotile), which suggests that we should be on the look-out for a possible mixture of different mechanisms for the different fiber-diameter-ranges.One popular idea of the causal chain is (1) Asbestos fiber → → (3) inflammation → (4) other pathology. While that may be true, it does not explain "(2), the actual trigger":"What is the physical property of asbestos which initiates any such inflammation?" (After all, inflammation is usually seen as caused by chemical-based processes: immunological &/or bacterial). So inflammation (&/or oxidation etc.) may well be part of the causal chain, but not the crucial first step.

Other asbestos-related diseases

It is important to consult a doctor, particularly if the follow symptoms develop: shortness of breath, wheezing, or hoarseness, persistent cough that worsens over time, blood in fluid coughed up, pain or tightening in chest, difficulty swallowing, swelling of neck or face, decreased appetite, weight loss, fatigue or anemia.

Asbestosis

Progressive fibrosis of the lungs of varying severity, progressing to bilateral fibrosis, honeycombing of the lungs on radiological view with symptoms including rales and wheezing. Individuals who have been exposed to asbestos via home, environment, work should notify their doctors about exposure history.

Asbestos warts

caused when the sharp fibers lodge in the skin and are overgrown causing benign callus-like growths.

Pleural plaques

discrete fibrous or partially calcified thickened area which can be seen on X-rays of individuals exposed to asbestos. Although pleural plaques are themselves asymptomatic, in some patients this develops into pleural thickening.

Diffuse pleural thickening

similar to above and can sometimes be associated with asbestosis. Usually no symptoms shown but if exposure is extensive, it can cause lung impairment.

Comment

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Taina said...
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Where can I find info on?My grandfather cnteerly passed away from Mesothelioma. The two companies that exposed him to Asbestos have admitted negligence. I was wondering where i can find information on monies granted to dependents when the companies have admitted negligence and that never went to court. Will his being a president of a sector of the company at the time of his retirement impact how much my grandmother receives?I don't get a penny of this money! I have a good job! Company's knew about Asbestos as early as the 1920s and still my grandfather was exposed to it and died because they didn't want to take precautions that might have cost a bit more.

3/12/2012 5:55:39 PM

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